Question about light and sound.

In summary, light and sound are both forms of energy that travel in waves. Light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye and can be reflected, refracted, and absorbed. Sound, on the other hand, is a mechanical wave that requires a medium to travel through and can be described by its frequency, amplitude, and wavelength. Both light and sound play important roles in our daily lives, with light allowing us to see and sound enabling us to communicate and perceive our surroundings.
  • #1
LadyLRae
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Just to let everyone know - I'm a Senior in high school. I know a little bit about science and physics - but I am no where near a genius in the subject... so if I say something totally stupid - laugh, but be sure to correctly me kindly. Heheheh...

Aight, so here's the question.

I'm doing research on the history of music, right? And I think, what if light can make music? It kind of make sense... Light is a wave that when it strikes an object - it causes a vibration - which makes sound - right? And music is sound that has rhythm. So is it possible that light can make music? (Whether or not human ears can detect it)

If you have any interesting info on this - or reasons that that doesn't work out... could you let me know? Any better explanations would be great. I'm writing a research paper on it and need it a.s.a.p.

Thanks,

Lady L'Rae :blushing:
 
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  • #2
Are you asking in theory or practice?

One way is to frequency shift a light beam, but visible light spans a fairly narrow range of frequencies, less than an octave. Or you can superheterodyne a light beam against a yellow reference. I suspect that would be difficult and expensive to build.

Another way would be to code the sound into a modulated light beam, shine it onto a photocell, and amplify the resulting current and drive an amplifier. Say you wanted to play the sound of, say, the view of a mountain landscape. Take a small spotting telescope, and put a prism at the eyepiece. Make five or six photocell amplifiers tuned to different frequencies, and use that signal to drive either the pitch or volume of a tone generator. Sweep the telescope over the scene, and listen to the chords change. I wonder if that could sound musical with the right kind of scene, and the right way to sweep the scope.

But does light make any sounds without such a device? No, not really, and certainly not directly. The frequencies are too high and the energies per photon are too low. Air molecules don't react to that much, which is why air is transparent. Indirectly, on large scales, the light of the sun does heat the earth, more at the equator and less at the poles. That makes for wind and weather. So I guess you could say that the sound of light is the howl of the wind and the crash of thunder.

Is that like what you were thinking of?
 
  • #3
LadyLRae said:
Just to let everyone know - I'm a Senior in high school. I know a little bit about science and physics - but I am no where near a genius in the subject... so if I say something totally stupid - laugh, but be sure to correctly me kindly. Heheheh...

Aight, so here's the question.

I'm doing research on the history of music, right? And I think, what if light can make music? It kind of make sense... Light is a wave that when it strikes an object - it causes a vibration - which makes sound - right? And music is sound that has rhythm. So is it possible that light can make music? (Whether or not human ears can detect it)

If you have any interesting info on this - or reasons that that doesn't work out... could you let me know? Any better explanations would be great. I'm writing a research paper on it and need it a.s.a.p.

Thanks,

Lady L'Rae :blushing:

Optics fibres can conduct signals, including sounds/ musics
 
  • #4
Thank you so much!

I'm interested in the idea of the sun causing the wind and thunder...

And I was speaking in theory - are there any theories on this at all... I meant naturally - without a device - there really isn't anything on a small scale?

Thanks for your response!
 
  • #5
pixel01 said:
Optics fibres can conduct signals, including sounds/ musics

Ooh, ooh... further explanation?
 
  • #6
Bob3141592 said:
Indirectly, on large scales, the light of the sun does heat the earth, more at the equator and less at the poles. That makes for wind and weather. So I guess you could say that the sound of light is the howl of the wind and the crash of thunder.
And apparently, once you eliminate the noise from known sources, you can hear that the Earth actually rings like a bell. A very, very large bell.
 
  • #7
DaveC426913 said:
And apparently, once you eliminate the noise from known sources, you can hear that the Earth actually rings like a bell. A very, very large bell.

Really? How? This is cool...
 
  • #8
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/21/earth_bell/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n25_v145/ai_15533200

"Like a bell, Earth has its own natural frequencies -- or normal modes -- which start ringing if the globe is hit hard enough. The most persistent of these modes causes the planet to expand and contract every 20 minutes, almost as if it were breathing. "
 
  • #9
here's something to think on;

Light is really nothing more than a range of electromagnetic wave frequencies that our biological optic nerves can detect. If we then decide that electromagnetic waves of all frequencies were a form of light.. or rather, if we throw out the notion of light itself and focus only on the ambient EMF signals around us as a source of music, here is what you can do...

Sound that the human ear can detect is in a range roughly from 20hz to 30,000hz, if we then listen for EMF at those frequencies (we could not 'see' those frequencies of radio wave) with a coil designed to amplify those signals and pass them through a speaker, what you will get is audible sound generated directly from natural or synthetic EMF.

Some folks have done just that with celestial bodies.. Like Jupiter for example (check youtube for 'the sounds of jupiter' for an example).
 

FAQ: Question about light and sound.

What is the difference between light and sound?

Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that can be seen by the human eye, while sound is a mechanical wave that is perceived by the ear. Light travels at a much faster speed than sound, and can travel through a vacuum, while sound requires a medium to travel through.

How does light travel?

Light travels in a straight line and can travel through a vacuum. It can also be refracted when it passes through different mediums, such as air or water, causing it to change direction.

What is the speed of sound?

The speed of sound varies depending on the medium it travels through. In dry air at room temperature, sound travels at approximately 343 meters per second (767 miles per hour).

Can light and sound waves be measured?

Yes, both light and sound waves can be measured. The unit of measurement for light is the nanometer (nm) and for sound it is the hertz (Hz).

How are light and sound used in everyday life?

Light is used for vision and allows us to see our surroundings, while sound is used for communication and can also be used for navigation and sonar systems. Light is also used in technologies such as lasers and fiber optics, while sound is used in musical instruments and medical imaging devices.

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